The Lazy Artist (EMG Zine January)

Originally posted : EMG Zine January Issue



I know that purchasing more hours in the day is not really achievable, nor is getting rid of the day job, but to coin a phrase my boss uses all the time -- we want to work smarter, not harder! This is where learning to be a 'lazy' person can help you get more stuff done (like painting!), and in less time. Here are some ideas to help you become a 'lazy artist' and increase your time for painting!

Automate stuff

Anything that you can set up in five minutes, and that takes less than a click to cancel is great. You can:

• set up direct billing for website hosting/ domain names/ art site subscriptions
• subscribe to rss feeds through your mail client (rather than visiting the site daily)
• Set up automatic filters/ rules on your email inbox. Rather than having 6000 emails in your inbox, it's a lot easier to deal with 5 emails you HAVE to answer then and there
• Automate your computer gadgets including
  
• backup procedures (my external harddrive has an automatic feature, but there are loads of free tools out there. Check out http://free-backup.info/ for loads of information)
• virus scans
• defragging the hard drive

As I have my computer on a lot, I try to schedule the tasks for when I'm not likely to be working so that these processes don't interrupt my flow. Create a digital Personal Assistant with free online tools Why remember stuff when you can set up a reminder? The less you have to remember, the more free space in your brain for other important things. Well that's the theory anyway! Set up reminders for:

• paying bills (if you haven't automated them)
  doing daily chores (like remembering to hang out the load of washing you put on 2 hours ago!)
• deadlines for commissions, competitions, submission dates
• interrupting procrastination such as catching up on forums, random internet searches, playing solitaire *ahem*
• Eat/ sleep/ have a real lifeThere are loads of on (line tools to help you manage your time such as:
  Remindr -- http://remindr.info/
  Hassle me -- http://www.hassleme.co.uk/
  Remember the Milk - http://rememberthemilk.com/

With some of these sites, they can even send reminders to your PDA, Blackberry, Mobile Phone or other electronic devices.

Why reinvent the wheel - Alternatives to a website

If you don't have time to develop your own website, or are finding it difficult to get around to updating your html & FTP'ing it to a server, then maybe you could use an online gallery for updates with a link from your main page or profile to the gallery. Some Online galleries you might like to look at are:

• DeviantArt -- http://www.deviantart.com/
• Elfwood -- http://www.elfwood.com/
• Epilogue -- http://www.epilogue.net/
• GFXArt -- http://www.gfxart.com/
• Artwanted -- http://www.artwanted.com/
• Fantastic Portfolios -- http://www.fantasticportfolios.com/

Another alternative to online galleries is to redirect your website to a blog. Some blogs are capable of hosting content such as images and videos. The benefit of using a blog is that they are quick to update, many have very simple interfaces, are very customizable and are free. Of course they aren't websites, and so don't have things like storefronts, but you can link to places where you can sell.

For an overview of some of the blogging software available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weblog_software

And if you are really pressed for time, try microblogging where you are limited to about 150 words. It's quick and easy and many of the microblogs have widgets for syndicating content. Examples of these include Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/), though many places such as Facebook and MySpace have similar tools known as Status Updates.

Let someone else sell your stuff

Another way to save on time is to stop doing the manufacturing of prints yourself and get someone else to do this. You may like to explore services such as Zazzle, Cafe Press & Deviant Art Prints, or consider licensing your images for manufacturing. The main downside to this is that you have no control over quality, and your profits may be fairly slim. But it does mean all that time you spend making things could be spent on painting. Being a 'lazy artist' is not about taking shortcuts, it's about prioritizing and working out what you want to spend your precious time on. And the more time you have to paint, the better!

ninja mountain podcasts

In case you haven't heard, some talented illustrators have been getting together and chatting about the sci-fi/ fantasy illustration industry in a series of entertaining and informative podcasts. So far there are only 3, but they are well worth the listen.

This is the blurb from their site http://ninjamountain.blogspot.com/:
Episode1:
This episode features Jeremy, Jon and Patrick as they discuss their first freelance jobs, how to get started as a freelancer (and how not to), art school, Applebee's, space boobs, and anything else that comes to mind. Get ready for an hour of art talk!

Episode 2:
This week, Andy Hepworth joins Jon, Jer, and Patrick, as the ninjas discuss portfolios, getting work, convention networking, and even a bit of art talk as they debate the merits of ArtRage, the digital painting program.

Episode 3:
It's the usual group of guys (Andy, Jeremy, Jon and Patrick), tackling the big subject of what they broadly call "client relations": working out contracts, getting paid, "exposure deals" and other scary stuff. They also discuss the best method of figuring just how much you should get paid for a job.

Feeds are available through iTunes as well

EMG Zine posts

I'm expanding my blog to EMG Zine which is run by the multi-tasking artist/ writer/ entrepreneur Ellen Million. This has been in the works for a while so it's exciting to finally be apart of Ellen's team. I'll still be writing here, but my extended articles will be posted at EMG Zine first, then posted here at the end of the month.

http://emg-zine.com/item.php?id=486 - is a post on Being lazy and getting stuff done (if you can't wait for me to post it here). I'm under the monthly column 'Part Time Painter'.

As a side note, while I work through my website redesign, I thought I'd post a link to a website which is something many people wouldn't consider. http://www.vischeck.com/ checks your website or images for usability for people who are Colourblind. I use it mainly for checking that text can still be read more than what the images will look like.

Why I hate the term 'New Year resolution'

It's that time of year again. New Year's Resolution time. I absolutely hate the term 'resolution'. It sounds like a death sentence. I like terms like 'possibility' or 'potential happening' - much less frightening. But, they wouldn't be so important if resolutions were so wishy-washy.

The point of a resolution is to kick your butt into gear, get you to stick to a plan and make a change to your life. So how do you make a resolution and actually keep it?

Set a deadline - otherwise you're making a list of procrastination
If you really want to achieve something, set a deadline. Mark a date in your calendar, set milestones to check progress against and stick to them. The minute you slip, you have to pull yourself up again or you've already failed. I'm terrible at this. I'll admit that I hate deadlines, because they are tangible things. They don't need to be so scary. They may be something simple like 'by the end of the year I will have attempted to do something'. It's actually about incentive.

Make the tasks reasonable - or the don't shoot for planet 47xb489 in the Orion Nebula
Don't be silly and say you will become an Olympic champion if you are a couch potato. Last year I made a list of things I'd 'like' to achieve, and ones that I 'wanted' to achieve. Some of the tasks were almost pipe dreams, while the majority were achievable with dedication and time. Make the tasks small so you can tick them off and feel like you've achieved something. Tasks may be buying a personal domain, painting at least one painting using oils, joining a forum you've been too intimidated to join. The grand plan may be to improve your painting to a level where you can enter a competition, but to get there, it will help if you have small tasks to achieve your large, long term goal.

Be willing to adjust your resolutions - they should be bendy, breakable and useful
Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me my life changed after I made my resolutions for the last year, and this in turn had a large impact on my ability to meet those artistic resolutions I'd set for myself. Life is very fluid, and you have to be prepared to change your resolutions if your circumstances change. I could not have prepared for the change in work conditions, nor could I have truly prepared for buying a house (when that was in the 'pipe dream' list). Basically you have to be flexible about some of your resolutions. If you break your leg, that resolution about being able to run a 20km marathon may have to change.


So what happens if you get to the end of the year and you fail?
Don't worry! Seriously. Failure is all part of the life experience. If you fail, you need to look at why you failed. Was it too complex? Did you try to achieve too much? Did you *really* want to achieve the task (i.e. not eating as much chocolate, hmmm???).

And anyway, if you fail, there's always the next year!

Or the next...

or the....

Website design - what you should consider

When you're building a website, there are a number of design elements that you should consider and plan for. It's all well and good to have a beautiful website, but if visitors can't find their way around or the pages take forever to load your website may not be successful.

Check out this post which covers a broad range of design issues and what you should be looking at when developing a website. : 15 top website elements

Muse, oh muse, where for art thou?

You've got an hour/ day/ week off where you can dedicate time to painting. You sit down in front of your empty sheet of paper/ canvas and ....

Nothing.

After weeks of not being able to paint you FINALLY get the chance, and your muse has gone walkabout. So what can you do when this happens?

1. Relax, it will come back eventually. It's like spilled milk. You can't change the fact so you might as well take a deep breath, recognise that maybe today is not going to be the day for painting, and get over it.

2. If you can't paint, go and do something else. Why waste a couple of hours bashing your head against the proverbial brick wall. Be practical. Do that website update you've been putting off, go watch a movie, do a puzzle. Just stop sitting there hoping that inspiration will magically happen by staring at a blank page. It will frustrate you no end, and at the end of the day if nothing has happened, you may feel worse than when you began.

3. Flip through an old sketch book. If you're feeling uninspired, go back and see if there's a half finished sketch that needs some shading done, or a painting that needs details added. Looking at your old stuff can inspire new stuff.

4. Write out a list of things you'd 'one day' like to paint. It can be anything from illustrating a specific book, to something vague like 'a blue elephant'.

5. Pick a topic you're interested in doing some paintings on and research it. Just because your painting muse has gone walkabout, it doesn't mean that you can't be planning future work. Do a google image search, follow links, look at technique articles. It doesn't matter if you start out researching 'The sleeping beauty' and end up at 'Martian icecaps'.

6. Join in an art challenge. Some great ones are
- 100 Themes Art Challenge - this is about interpretation of a single word
- Illustration Friday - a weekly challenge site-
- Speed painting challenges on most good art forums - particularly useful for digital artists

7. Experiment. Work through a tutorial you've had bookmarked for years. Don't worry if you're copying a painting in order to learn a new technique - this is how many artists learnt their trade. Just focus on keeping your skills up to scratch. This is about doing art stuff, but not letting your brain get in the way.

Your muse may be nice and come back half way through the first 10 minutes of the movie you've switched on. Then again, it might be vindictive and take a holiday in Barbados for three months. The point is, when you force things in art, it doesn't always work. The more you try and make it happen, they more you may dislike what you're producing and get miserable. Artist block happens to the best artists. It doesn't mean you suck, it just means that you aren't necessarily meant to paint at 2pm on Tuesday afternoon! So don't give up, just relax and fill in your time while you're waiting for Muse to come back.

Or fire her, and hire a new one!

The healthier artist - 10000 step challenge

Working in IT, I'm pretty much tied to the computer. I get up, go to work, switch on the computer and sit there for 8-10 hours a day with the occasional interruption by a meeting or visit to someone else’s desk. On my down time when I work on my art, if I decide to paint/ work on website updates/ check emails/ visit forums, again I’m tied to a desk.

All this desk time is not really conducive to an active lifestyle and can cause health problems, and exacerbate stress. But there are a number of things that you can do to help keep from seizing up or becoming unhealthy. This is one idea that you might like to consider as it’s cheap, easy to get involved with, and takes little effort:

My work is currently taking part in something called the '10 000 Step challenge'. The idea is to aim for 10 000 steps (the equivalent of 8km walking) every day. This is the recommended goal for an ‘active adult’. You use a pedometer, a conversion chart and a group of people to heckle support you and you track how you measure up. I must admit I’m a bit up and down at the moment, but I’m definitely averaging 10000 steps every day.

Here’s another article people in sedentary work might like to read: 7 important steps for a web worker